Good news! After the success of a trial in St. Arvans, Wales has outlined plans to become a zero waste nation by 2050, setting a target of 70% of all waste to be recycled by 2025.
They're certainly making all the right noises too. Launching the strategy, Environment, Sustainability & Housing Minister Jane Davidson said: "What we do with our waste reflects how we treat our country and planet.
"We can no longer simply bury waste in the land to rot. We need to act now for the sake of our country. Will we be able to look our grandchildren in the eye and say we did all we could to protect where they live?"
Sounds positive, doesn't it? However, before we get too excited it's worth remembering the Australian capital of Canberra. Having set a 'No waste by 2010' deadline back in 1996, they waited until January this year to admit that it was an 'aspirational exercise' all along.
"Almost all slogans have an aspirational purpose," said Australian Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.
"We will never achieve a situation where there is no waste that's actually [sent] to landfill, it will never ever be achieved. I think it was an appropriate slogan and an appropriate target."
Stanhope is, of course, wrong. Difficult as it might be, zero waste is possible. The question is, does the Welsh Assembly agree? Let's just hope we don't have to wait until 2049 to find out.
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